While the flying car is yet to become commonplace, an Israeli firm believes its version of the much anticipated transport could seen be ferrying passengers around in the air. Called the CityHawk, the five seater could be ferrying four passengers using giant jet fuel powered fans. It is based on the Cormorant, a military craft set to ferry wounded soldiers from the battlefield. The radical design uses enclosed fans, allowing it to land and take off in enclosed spaces. Although initial versions will have a pilot, future craft will be able to fly themselves.

Getting supplies delivered to troops in remote areas is a big part of what the U.S. military does in terms of logistics. In many cases, it's too dangerous to send an airplane or helicopter, so the military is always looking for new ways of carrying out such resupply missions. Earlier this month at the Sea Air Space 2017 trade show in National Harbor, Md., we saw a new concept for remote resupply that the U.S. Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory has been testing. The TACAD (TACtical Air Delivery) glider is a prototype for an unpowered drone that can fly huge distances to deliver up to 700 pounds (317 kilograms) of whatever you need with high accuracy, and then be abandoned where it lands without a second thought. The picture above is a small scale model of the TACAD drone glider that the Marines are planning on building.

The news seemed to arrive all at once, even though Canada has long been at the forefront of technology, from Vancouver's film studios to Montreal's world-class animation talent. But in the past few months, things were different. Everyone seemed to come together (a rarity) and as a group, all parties were thinking ahead (another rarity): academia, government, non-profit organizations and businesses all came out in strong support of artificial intelligence research and development. The announcements were made in relatively quick succession: A new federal budget would provide $125 million to improve Canada's competitive and strategic advantage in AI. The University of Toronto's Vector Institute would hire roughly 25 new faculty and research scientists devoted to the field of artificial intelligence.

The original Ghost in the Shell (GitS) movie was practically compulsory material in the hacker subculture of the late 90s, early 2000s. The original touched on themes that all geeks can appreciate, including robotics, sentient AI, human augmentation, active ("thermal-optic") camouflage, transferring human consciousness to a machine, and more. The main protagonist was a hacker called the Puppet Master, and the idea of hacking technically augmented humans was ahead its time (the Internet of Things wasn't even a "thing" then). This is probably why GitS imagery and themes have been iconic in hacker culture (like this GitS-ish t-shirt). As a fan of the complete Ghost in the Shell franchise (manga, TV shows, sequels), I was excited for the live-action remake of the movie, despite my wariness for "reboots" in general.

Let's take a breath: Robots and artificial intelligence systems are nowhere near displacing the human workforce. Nevertheless, no less a voice than Bill Gates has asserted just the opposite and called for a counterintuitive, preemptive strike on these innovations. His proposed weapon of choice? Taxes on technology to compensate for losses that haven't happened. David Kenny (@davidwkenny) is IBM's senior vice president for Watson and the company's cloud platform.

There is a stretch of highway through the Ozark Mountains where being data-driven is a hazard. Jason Tashea (@justicecodes), a writer and technologist based in Baltimore, is the founder of Justice Codes, a criminal justice and technology consultancy. Heading from Springfield, Missouri, to Clarksville, Arkansas, navigation apps recommend the Arkansas 43. While this can be the fastest route, the GPS's algorithm does not concern itself with factors important to truckers carrying a heavy load, such as the 43's 1,300-foot elevation drop over four miles with two sharp turns. The road once hosted few 18-wheelers, but the last two and half years have seen a noticeable increase in truck traffic--and wrecks.

Windows users are being told to update their computers after a hacking group released a collection of exploits designed to help cybercriminals break into Microsoft's software. The tools, which were released by the Shadow Brokers group, had allegedly been stolen from the US' National Security Agency (NSA) last summer. It is believed that NSA spies had been using the exploits to secretly break into computers running older versions of Windows, including XP and Vista. Microsoft says "most of the exploits" have already been addressed with a series of patches – one of which was issued as recently as last month – but warned Windows users to make sure their devices are up to date. The I.F.O. is fuelled by eight electric engines, which is able to push the flying object to an estimated top speed of about 120mph.

While we consumed our body weight in chocolate, the US Navy banned vaping on its entire fleet and EA detailed the sequel to Battlefront. There's also a drone that can spy on fish, some stealth iPad upgrades and a potentially life-saving AI. While they're far from the most dangerous threat to those serving in the US Navy, it turns out e-cigarettes have been posing quite the problem in recent years. Two occurred while e-cigarettes were in sailors' mouths, two required fires to be extinguished and one even forced a naval aircraft to abandon its flight and return for landing. With this in mind, it's perhaps no surprise that the US Navy decided to ban e-cigarettes across its entire fleet. Those on terra firma will still be able to vape to their hearts' content, but the prohibition goes into effect next month.

DIGITAL technology has changed the industrial and manufacturing world. The convergence of the Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence and robots, among other technologies, has enabled smart factories and the quantum leap into Industry 4.0. As Malaysia braces for her own transformation in manufacturing, various ministries and government agencies are paving the way to establish a foundation that will push the nation toward a technology-driven economy based on the progressive ideals of Industry 4.0. Their collective effort is all-encompassing and cuts through all socio-economic borders. "To remain competitive, we have to embrace new technology such as automation. Industry 4.0 will be a total transformation of the economy. Whether one chooses to embrace it or not, it is inevitable. We need to organise ourselves to participate in and make plans for it," says Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation (Mosti) Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau.

The war between machines likely won't be fought across some bomb-blasted hell-scape, with humans scuttling about like roaches trying to avoid being squashed. Rather, machines will fight it out over fiber optic connections, with the battleground being computer servers and laptops containing valuable information. You'll recall that monochromatic pant suits weren't Hilary Clinton's only problem: Russia (or some obese, Big Gulp-slurping teen in his mom's basement) hacked her private emails. Cybersecurity is still the domain of humans, but the job is increasingly being turned over to predictive systems that use various forms of artificial intelligence that do everything from protecting financial information to detecting fraudulent behavior. It's no secret that cybersecurity is big business.